Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I access Halogen?

A: Located in the lower right side of your insideloyola.edu page, under your “Quick Links” you will click on “Performance Management”. Single sign-on has been installed, once you click you will automatically be redirected to your personalized Halogen page.

Q. Who do I contact if I can’t access Halogen?

A. Call the OTS helpdesk at x5555

Q. Who should I contact if I have any questions about the evaluation process?

A. If you need assistance with any aspect of the Performance Evaluation Process, please contact your HR Partner:

Name Title Divisions Assigned Extension

Karen Feeley Director Employee

Engagement President’s Office Ext. 1345

Elaine Kudsieh Senior HR Partner Advancement, Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications, Vice President Special Assistant

Ext. 1343

Bonnie Wrzosek HR Partner Business and Finance, Student Development,

Loyola Notre Dame Library Ext. 1367

Toya Daily-Smith Senior HR Partner Academic Affairs, Loyola College, School of Education, Sellinger School of Business Management

Ext. 1360

You may also contact Mike Jimenez, Assistant Director HRIS at Ext 1340 or Cayce Fournier, Director of Compensation and HR Operations at 1364 with any systems related issues.

Q. Where can I find information about this year’s performance evaluation process?

A. The performance appraisal timetable, the program guidebook, and a list of training and online resources may be found on the human resources website at:

https://www.loyola.edu/department/hr/compensation/performance Q. The form looks different. What has changed?

A. Changes to the forms and the process were implemented last year. The changes will happen in two phases. The performance evaluations that were completed in 2020 had two changes, neither impacting the employee’s score and what they are being rated on. These changes are the incorporation of the self- evaluation into the same form as the evaluation and then the insertion of a calibration review process.

The second phase is implemented this year and includes adding mission, vision, and values; changing the

competencies; having only one comment box for competencies; and inclusion of a new professional

development and service section. There are also only three forms – supervisor, non-supervisor and

operations with the main difference being the operations form does not require goals. Please see the HR website for more information.

Q. There are no goals in the evaluation form, why?

A. Last year, due to the changes that were implemented, the goals had to be entered into a separate performance form in order to auto-populate this year. However, this was due right around the time the University went to telework due to the pandemic. Many people did not document their goals in that form, but you are able to add goals in the first steps of this current process and form.

Q. What are we supposed to do with the new mission, vision and values section?

A. This new section in the performance forms for goal-setting this year is a non-scored component designed to encourage conversations between the supervisor and employee about how the employee’s work embodies our core mission and how the employee represents our values. The definitions within the form is a subset, though, so supervisors should review the entire definitions and talk about how these can be demonstrated within work life at Loyola. https://www.loyola.edu/about/mission. For ideas, watch members of the Loyola University Maryland community discuss ways in which they, their students, their departments and the University as a whole, approach and support the mission:

https://www.loyola.edu/department/mission-integration/on-campus/encountering-mission.

Q. What is the time period is covered for the annual evaluation?

A. The evaluation should review work from March 1, 2020 through February 2021.

Q. What are the steps and important dates in the annual evaluation process?

Please see the deadline dates posted to the website at

https://www.loyola.edu/department/hr/compensation/performance

Q. How do I know if I need to do an annual evaluation for my new employee?

A. If an Administrator was hired on or after April 1, 2020 AND the provisional evaluation has been completed, they do NOT need an annual evaluation.

If a Staff was hired on or after September 1, 2020 AND the provisional evaluation has been completed, they do NOT need an annual evaluation.

If the employee’s provisional period ends during the performance evaluation period, complete the provisional evaluation using the Halogen tool.

Q. Where can I get a copy of the job description?

A. Contact your Human Resources Partner.

Q. What if my employees are missing or Halogen lists individuals who are not my direct reports?

A. The office of human resources has made every effort to ensure correct supervisors are identified, but if

there is an error, contact your HR partner immediately. The change may require supervisory approval and

an email. You can contact your HR partner with the information. If an employee is missing and a new

hire, it may be that their provisional evaluation will be due first so therefore they will not be in the annual process.

Q. How do you assign the appraisal to a different manager?

A. You can change the manager under the “Task Status” menu. You will click on the employee you would like to change. On the middle right of the screen you will see a button that says “Assign to Other Supervisor”. Click the button and a search window will open. Once you find the manager you will like to assign the employee to, click on the name and hit send. The manage will receive an email notification and the review will show up under his Tasks. Only managers who have employees already listed under them will show up in the search function.

Q. What happens when a goal changes during the year or something supersedes it? Can they be changed or deleted?

A. Goals can and often should change throughout the year but should happen as a discussion between the supervisor and employee. While we do not recommend ever deleting goals that were established, if that goal is no longer relevant it can be rated as N/A (not applicable). If the supervisor wishes to modify a goal, they would contact their HR Partner to roll the evaluation back to a step in which goals are editable.

Q. Are self-evaluations required?

A. Providing content for the self-evaluation is optional (unless your supervisor requires it) but with the self-evaluation being the first step of the cycle now, the actual completion of the step is now required.

Employees must physically submit the self-evaluation in Halogen in order for their supervisor to get the evaluation form.

Q. If I didn’t complete my appraisal in Halogen last year, where is it?

A. If you completed a paper evaluation last year, it was placed in your personnel file. If you do not have a copy of it, you can call Human Resources at Ext. 1370 to request a copy.

Q. One of my employees is listed under “My Employees” but is not listed under “Task Status”.

What does this mean?

A. This usually means that the employee is your direct report, but you recently completed a provisional evaluation for the employee. You are not required to complete another evaluation for any administrator who received a provisional evaluation in the past 180 days, or a staff employee who received a

provisional evaluation in the past 90 days.

Q. The self-evaluation form reads more like something my manager should complete. Am I completing the correct form?

A. Yes, employees evaluate themselves on the same form their manager would use. This allows employees to provide direct feedback to a manager on the specific areas they would be evaluated on.

Q. I’m trying to complete my self-evaluation and I keep getting the message “in section, the weighted past goal must be scored”. What does this mean?

A. Did you leave any sections blank? Every area that can be rated on the form needs to be rated in order

for the form to be considered “complete.” Directly below the place where you record your

accomplishments toward the goal, there is a drop-down menu where you can give yourself a rating. If you don’t want to assign yourself ratings for past goals/goal achievements, you should choose N/A from the drop-down menu.

Q. I am trying to complete the evaluation and I keep getting the error message “In section, the sum of goal weights must equal 100 or 0”. What does this mean?

A. This message comes up when you have not weighted your new goals properly. The percentage weight of your goals must equal 100, you will need to type in a number beside each goal. Review the form to make sure no areas are left blank.

Q. What is calibration?

A. The practice of performance calibration refers to the steps taken to make sure that managers apply a consistent set of standards in making performance ratings. The process ensures:

• A fair and objective performance appraisal of past performance is made for each employee in relation to others in similar roles and/or job levels, and;

• Managers apply similar standards to all employees.

Once the evaluations are written and scored, they will now come to HR for review. HR will compile data and review with Vice-Presidents as part of the calibration process. Supervisors will receive authorization to move forward with performance conversations after those meetings have occurred.

Q. Now that our job description/job duties are a rated part of the evaluation, what do I do if I think my job description is out of date?

A. Discuss this with your supervisor. The supervisor may request a copy of the job description from the HR Partner. If duties have changed over time (typically 20% or more), the supervisor may work with the HR Partner to update the job description to better reflect the work being performed. Please note that changing the duties within a job description does not automatically mean there’s a compensable change.

As always, job descriptions are reviewed against market data and priced based on those comparisons.

Q. How would I view my self-evaluation or my evaluation from last year?

A. You can access your self-evaluation by clicking on the “My Performance” tab at the top of the screen. Once there click on the evaluations section. In the column all the way to the right-hand side you can click on “View” to see a PDF copy of your self-evaluation from last year.

Q. I now received an alert of "task past due" but cannot determine what next step is needed or how to proceed through the system?

A. This could indicate you completed the task but forgot to click "Complete" in the upper right-hand corner to send it to the next level. If you’re unsure, contact your HR partner for assistance.

Q. How do I submit my comments on my evaluation?

A. Once you log in you’ll need to click Employee Signature. Then you can add comments and electronically sign-off by clicking “Sign-off” in the upper right-hand corner of the form.

Q. Evaluations for my department have been reviewed and returned to me. How does the employee

“review” and “sign off”?

A. Once evaluations are complete, meet with each of your direct reports and discuss the evaluation. Once you have met with your direct reports, login to Halogen to complete the “task”. Then employees will be able to sign off on the evaluation electronically. The supervisor will not be able to sign off until the employee has signed off.

Q. What do I do if my supervisor doesn’t assign a self-evaluation and I want to complete one?

A. You may complete a paper self-evaluation form and send it to your supervisor for review. Copies of all evaluation forms are located at https://www.loyola.edu/department/hr/forms.

Q. How do I add any supporting documentation into Halogen system?

A. Only a supervisor can add supporting documentation in Halogen. Once you log in you’ll need to click on “My Employees” at the top of the screen. You will see a list of your direct reports. To the far right of the screen there is a column called “Documents”. Click on the number of documents available in the system for an employee. You are then redirected to their documents page. Click “Add” to add a file and then browse to find the document. You must remember to give the document a name and select the appropriate visibility level (management or employee and management) for the document.

Q. Why did my information “disappear” from Halogen?

A. The system “times out” if it is left unused for a period of time. This is a security feature. Remember to save your information periodically.

Q. What is the difference between “Send for Review” and “Complete”?

A. “Send for Review” lets the supervisor send the evaluation to a 3

party for feedback and review.

“Complete” moves the evaluation forwards in the process and sends the evaluation to the second level supervisor to review. Once the second level supervisor approves the evaluation it is time for the supervisor and employee to meet and review the evaluation together.

Q. What are the reasons why I would use the “Send for Review” function? (Third party feedback) A. You should only send the evaluation for third party feedback when the employee is a shared resource, or if the employee recently transferred to your department.

Q. How do I send my employee’s appraisal to a third party for feedback?

A. Open the employee’s appraisal you wish to send to a third party. Once you are in the appraisal on the top left side of the appraisal, there will be a button that reads “Send for Review”. Once you click on this button it, it will open a search window for you to look up the third party. Once you find the third party, click on the name and hit send. The third party will receive an email notification and the review will show up under his Tasks.

The third party will only be able to make comments and is not able to change evaluation scores or goals.

Once the third party makes comments and hits complete it will return to the supervisor, the supervisor can review and acknowledge the comments and make any changes needed. Comments made by a third party will not be saved after the supervisor clicks complete.

Q. The “Performance Management” link is not working, what should I do?

A. First try a different browser. If you still cannot access the site, please contact Mike Jimenez, Assistant Director HRIS at Ext 1340 or Cayce Fournier, Director of Compensation and HR Operations at 1364.

Q. What do I if my employee is out on leave and will not return to sign off on the evaluation by the end of April 2019?

A. Print the evaluation and meet with the staff when they return from leave. Send a copy of the evaluation signed by both you and the staff member to Human Resources to be uploaded into their Halogen portal.

Q. I am not able to sign off on the evaluation, I clicked the sign off button and nothing is happening.

What should I do?

A. There have been issues reported from users who use Chrome or FireFox, if this happens to you try

switching to Internet Explorer.